U.S. Open of Surfing relatively calm after melee last year, police say

A year after a melee broke out on the final day of the U.S. Open of Surfing tournament in Huntington Beach, police said that there had been no major problems associated with the tournament so far this year.

Officers have arrested approximately 40 people since the tournament began Friday evening, said Lt. Kent Ferrin, a police spokesman.

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Ferris said the arrests were for "relatively minor offenses" such as fighting and public intoxication.

"We were busy," Ferrin said, "but there was nothing major."

On the final day of last year's event a disturbance broke out in which rioters smashed glass storefronts and overturned portable toilets. Several officers suffered minor injuries and a person was treated and released from a hospital after being struck by a rubber projectile.

Tournament organizers scaled back this year's event and banned alcohol sales and live music, among other precautions. The event also got a beefed-up police presence, including mounted officers in the downtown area.